Mary Onyali Turns 44

By Osagie Alonge

Nigerian Olympic-winning medalist Mary Onyali-Omagbemi turns 44 today Friday, February 3, 2012.

Onyali-Omagbemi is best known for winning bronze medals for the 4×100 metre relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 200 metre race at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Raised by her mother after her father died when she was very young, the talented athlete is the eldest of four children. As such, a lot of responsibility was thrust upon her at an early age.

Onyali-Omagbemi attended St John’s Primary School, Olodi-Apapa, Lagos and was said to have been actively involved in various sports from youth. In secondary school, she narrowed down her interests to track events such as Long jump, High jump and Sprinting.

Her love for sports increased but took a toll on her education, forcing her late mother to make her discontinue participating in them. With no choice but to study hard in order to get back on the field, she focused on her studies, eventually made team captain and represented her school in inter-house sports where she excelled.

After some false starts, her sports career kicked off in 1984 when she competed in Cairo, Egypt where she emerged second in the 200M race. She was later offered free admission into the Texas Southern University, where she met Mr. Tobias Igwe, who became her mentor.

In 1986, she participated in the World Junior Championship in Athens, winning a Silver medal in the 200M race.

Just six years later, in 1992, Mary Onyali and her fellow runners Beatrice Utondu, Faith Idehen, and Christy Opara-Thompson came in as third place in the 4 X 100 relay race at the Olympics.

She quit running almost a decade ago, and now works as a consultant while operating her sportswear manufacturing outfit Yali Yali Enterprises in Houston, Texas.